I predict that Britney Spears is going to be the next Madonna. She will have more popularity among adults in another 5 years. In 10 or so some of the critics are going to be singing her praises. Though Christina Aguilera is obviously more talented, Britney is better at media manipulation, seems like a lot nicer person, and is actually a decent actress from what I have seen. Give her some time.
I don’t particularly like this (or her), but remember this prediction!!!
sk8rixtx writes:
No, we have their lack of talent against them.
According to People Magazine, Ms. Aguilera is neither tall nor willowy - she’s 5’2".
Britney has already taken your advice, and in order to preserve her voice, no longer sings during concerts and personal appearances, but instead just plays a CD of her music and mouths the words at approximately the same time into something that looks a lot like a microphone headset but is actually a pipe cleaner with a licorice gumdrop stuck on the end.
Compare Britney vs. Christina against the historical examples of Madonna vs. Cyndi Lauper. At the time of their debut, Cyndi was thought (correctly) to have the greater talent, vocally, but it’s Madonna who’s become the reigning queen of the universe while Cyndi has continued on with a small but manageable career.
TOPIC: Mariah, Britney, and Christina all dress like whores - cheap whores - but strangely their male counterparts - your 98 Back’sync Boys, etc. -rarely dress the part of the male prostitute. Discuss. Be sure to include the phrase “the male gaze” and at least one reference to a French post-modern feminist text in your answer.
I disagree that the Backstreet Boys, et al, are not dressing as male prostitutes. They wear tight clothes, leather pants, and position themselves to be as sexy as humanly possible.
While Britney, Christina, and Mariah look like the world’s cheapest hookers, these boys look like expensive rent boys who will do anything you want for the right price. These ‘women’ look like they will do anything for cabfare and a vial of crack.
The male gaze is not just about exposing flesh, but presenting the object of lust in the best way possible for the audience. With American mores and homophobia being what it is, the Backstreet Boys and their clones couldn’t get away with being as scantily clad as the three females we’ve been discussing. For the males to do that, they’d be percieved as gay, which would diminish their popularity.
Note, that apart from Britney’s very public romance with the scary looking Justin Timberlake, Mariah and Christina have not really had their romances put in such a prominent fashion. You could say that Mariah’s marriage to Tommy Motolla was similar, but I’d disagree.
Contrast this with the Backstreet Boys where they mention the girls they are dating or the women they are engaged to every article so people don’t think they are gay. Gay pop stars, what a shock. Am I the only one who thinks at least one of the Backstreet Boys will pull a George Micheal and be caught in a public bathroom propositioning another man for sex?
I’d agree with your disagreement - I don’t think Mariah Carey married Tommy Mottola for the publicity, but I think the fact that he was the head of Sony Music might have had a bit of an influence…
I like the rest of your discussion as well - it’s clear that women, even when blessed with actual talent, a la Mariah and Christina, are marketed (seemingly with their consent) as submissive sexual objects. It seems Mariah’s idea of formal attire is a BLACK string bikini. That’s classy with a capital “K”.
Anyway, I heard her song “Butterfly” this weekend - not on purpose - and the lyric goes:
“Spread your wings and prepare to fly
for you have become a butterfly.”
Is that the best she could do? Rhyming “butterfly” with, umm, “fly”?
Ms. Cranky started this thread thirteen days ago, inviting Ms. Aguilera in for a colloquy. As of this late date, Ms. Aguilera has not posted one response.
Until this bit of disrespect, I thought Christina was OK. Now I know she’s just a bitch.
Sua
I agree with the 98 boys. They tend to dress very conservatively, yet classy. Nsync and the others have yet to pull that look. They not only wear anything tight, sparkly, and glimmery, but i clearly remember and MTVmusicawards show where at least two had on see through/rhinestone/and a flowly midriff revealing top. But this is the media influence, allowing them to wear whatever and think “damn that’s cool”.
I suppose my biggest grunt tho is that talent doesn’t need to show flesh. For those who found Britney “Hot” at her last MTV performance, ever notice her tacky make-up job? It looked like she put a neutral shade all over her face and added black to her eyes. Someone must have not gotten enough time to be the “beauty” they come across to be via perforamces and music videos. I’d like to see a natural beauty out there, to help us girls that don’t feel they should put on tonz of make-up and wear slutty clothes just to get noticed in a public area.
Lastly, i was flipping through the channels when i noticed C.A. playing on the DisneyChannel >suprise suprise<. Aside from her slutty tight white outfit she was singing the following lyrics:
“don’t you want to be the one tonight, we can do exactly what you like, don’t you want it to be just you and me, we can do what comes so naturally”
Yes a wholesome family board game is exactly what was on her mind. I would love to see the effects on all the 8 year olds out there. And we wonder why today’s youth is maturing faster in a disturbing direction.
I understand she’s not speaking to anyone these days. She’s still crushed by AquaPura’s oafish behavior towards her after that horrendous accident.
She just sits by her window, dabbing at the tears with a silk hankie she made out of one of her old tops…she’s getting thinner and thinner, and the rings under her eyes are simply dreadful.
Oh God, Ike, I didn’t know. Now I feel like such an ass.
Christina, please forgive me. I was just plain wrong. :o
Sua
I think this is more aimed at the people who try really hard to be skinny than those who are naturally that way.
For example: my sister is fairly skinny. It doesn’t disgust me as much as . . . oh, C.A. does because I know for a fact that my sister doesn’t TRY to be skinny. She just is.
As for Sqrl, he’s not the only guy who prefers a bit more weight on the frame than this society readily tolerates:)
I was watching “Fromage Of the Year” on Much Music last night (Canada’s [much superior]version of MTV) and Ed the Sock was giving out awards for Cheesiest Videos and such.
One category was “Cheesiest Virgin”, as in “claiming to be a virgin.” The winner was Britney Spears and he said, “She’s seen more shaft than an elevator”. Oooh, I was dyin’. The whole show was a freakin’ riot with him ripping on boy bands, bad videos and general idiocy in the music world. If they repeat it, you’ve got to watch it.